I have two email messages that ask, “What’s a good Christmas gift for my boss?”
Here are some ideas.
- Competency.
- Timeliness.
- Performance.
- Good hygiene.
- A positive attitude.
You don’t buy your boss anything. Your boss buys you stuff to thank you for a job well done. Or your boss doesn’t buy you anything because you get a paycheck. We’re grown ups. Let’s move on.
For more holiday advice that you can use at the office, please refer to Workplace Conflict & The Holidays and Ten Common Holiday Mistakes. Then go eat some cookies and drink some hot chocolate.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Laurie,
You don’t suck…
What if you really like you boss? What if you’ve been friends for a long time and you feel like she (of maybe he) really goes to bat for you?
Are you a total Weezer just because you feel appreciative for the intangible part of your compensation? She knows quite well that I’m not a kiss ass.
Anyway… hope you get some other responses.
Ray
The company I recently started working for is growing quickly. Even though it’s retail, we’re experiencing growth in a soft economy and planning on opening stores in the coming year.
In preparation for all that growth, corporate management changed some “traditional” Christmas things, but the most “egregious” (dude, I just used air quotes twice in one sentence, sorry) of these changes is the Annual Christmas Gift Card Debacle. In years past, employees received $50 per year of service in the form of an in-store gift card. This year they’ve changed that to $50 for each full-time employee, $25 for part-time, and management gets a larger card, but it’s still considerably less than they’ve received in years past, and is pretty much proportional to what the employees are getting, cut-wise.
You really would have thought they’d installed a sweatshop in the back or something. Yesterday I heard “this company isn’t treating its employees right,” “tell me why I work here if they don’t care about me any more than that,” and “this is just going to make turnover that much worse.” Because they are *only* getting a $50 gift card as a thank-you for the work they do during the year.
Let me add that this gift card is in addition to the normal discount they receive on store merchandise. And it’s in addition to the extra things the company provides during the holidays (example, providing meals on busy Saturdays) AND in addition to the $20 gift check from Butterball towards purchasing a turkey. (Which is apparently bad because they used to just GIVE them a turkey, and now the poor, put-upon employees must go to the store themselves and choose one…. bless their hearts.)
I really tried explaining that they’re getting a lot more than many, many people are, especially in this economy and working in retail. I tried explaining patiently that as the company grows, things will work differently than they did when it was just ten stores – you simply can’t do the same things. It all fell on deaf ears, even store management deaf ears.
I found myself thinking “We’re grown ups. Move on.” And when I saw your post include that phrase all I could think of was how I couldn’t possibly be that far off in my assessment. You either get or you don’t. If you do, say thank you and move on. If you don’t, move on.
Same thing with boss gifts – you either get it or you don’t, but don’t pester the fire out of other employees to “find out what you’re doing” so you don’t do less, or feel you’re being perceived as doing less.
It’s enough to suck the Merry right out of Christmas (or the Happy from Chanukah or Kwanzaa or the Pleasant out of Festivus.)
I never understood why anyone would buy Christmas gifts for the boss. He/She aint yo’ daddy/mama.
The gift I give my boss is doing more work than I’m adequately paid for in this economy. And if I’m not gifted back with more pay when we work our way back from the brink and start becoming profitable again, then I will gift myself by seeking a new adventure. And he knows this because feedback is a gift. See, gifting all around.
Since someone asked- … I do have a boss gift recommendation. If you know the boss well- you know their passion. (wine? Boats? Cars? A charity? Cigars, lifestyle etc). Go to magazines.com and for a nominal amount you have a great choice to get a unique subscription to a gift that keeps on giving. I have given this (Rolling Stone , wine enthusiast, Southern Living, Car and Driver, Golf etc) they appreciate it and it is thoughtful.
A holiday card expressing gratitude is enough. Or a donation to a non-profit. As you said, Laurie, let’s move on…
@Ray See Debbe and Marsha’s ideas below.
@KellyO Holy crap. I feel for you, sister.
@H.Aria You are good looking AND generous.
@Debbie That is a nice idea — if you like your boss.
@Marsha Donation is good!
Someone just emailed me and said WINE. Talk to Lance Haun at http://rehaul.com for affordable wine recommendations for your boss.
Your boss-gifts are also the same gifts I want our employees to give us!
That aside, my boss was actually my friend first before he hired me. I’m still not getting him a Christmas present. I don’t think I have really gotten any boss a personalized gift. Most work gifts I’ve given are the same I get for everyone, usually something nominal or edible.
The expectation of giving just ruins it.
my boss gave our entire dept snuggies as a holiday gift. i was speechless.
@Ginger My first boss at Pfizer gave me the best gifts but was really good about ensuring that there was no quid-pro-quo. I didn’t even know her birthday until I left the company.
@Michael I expect Ken to get me something. Does that ruin it?
@shawn Speechless good? Bad?
@Debbie I’d like a subscription to The Economist…
I got my boss a gift a few years ago, just a token car toy as I know he’s really into his cars (evident in the 4 different super cars he drives) he always gave us a gift card for M&S which is minimal considering the amount of unpaid over time we did but it was a nice touch and we were all grateful. I left as I had no pay review in over 2 years and with changes in circumstances (mortgage travel expenses and family) it was costing me money to come to work.
I had no formal contract but because I got on well with my boss I gave him 3 months notice to help find a replacement, give them time to do 1 months notice and start and help train them up.
Since leaving my boss has completely disregarded me, not paying commissions I was owed or holidays being very shady actually blanking me when I saw him.
Don’t waste your money on a gift for your boss as you are just a number on payroll to most of them. If you really want to give your boss something get him a card
I’ve always avoided giving gifts to bosses because of the “kiss-ass” factor that’s involved. Eh…. and most of the time they don’t deserve it as well—-
Oh…I know the perfect gift for your boss. Buy him (gen neu) a subscription to Monster.com. Be sure to use his work e-mail addy so he can get all of the newsletters in a timely fashion. Also, make sure you set up his job alerts and post his resume’. Then dust off yours so that you can vie for his job later. Just to make it more fun…don’t tell him that you did any of this for him so that he will thank the entire Department!
Or, buy him a coffee mug if you are the traditional sort.